Building a Science of Consciousness

In this episode, we discuss the haptic research that was conducted at QRI in 2021. This research was conducted in order to explore the potential of haptic stimulation for aiding in psychedelic therapy. We discuss the results of our research and how we believe that incorporating haptic stimulation into psychedelic treatment can be beneficial.

In this episode, Steven Lehar overviews the core insights of his life's work in perceptual research. He discusses the paradox of visual experience, amodal perception and perceptual reification, the ontology of visual experience, and gestalt theory. He also talks about the properties of harmonic resonance and how they can be used to understand and model perception.

In this episode, we discuss the limitations of current research paradigms for studying exotic states of consciousness, and how they may prevent us from understanding key aspects of these states. We also talk about some of the weird and bizarre properties of experience that have been reported by those who have undergone these states, and how they challenge our current understanding of consciousness...

In this episode, we discuss the preliminary findings of our research into visual tracers on altered states of consciousness. We explain how we developed a fine-grained vocabulary and an interactive tool to allow users to replicate the effects in detail. We share our current understanding of the characteristics of tracers for each of the conditions we have datapoints for, and argue that they might...

In this episode, we hear from Quintin Frerichs of the Qualia Research Institute about Neural Annealing - a theory for how the brain updates emotional beliefs. Frerichs discusses how this theory can help us to understand how the brain processes information, and how it can be applied to improve our understanding of mental illness and other neurological conditions.

In this episode, we explore the idea that the true range of intensity of both pleasure and pain is orders of magnitude wider than we intuitively believe. This discovery has serious and important revision to ethical priorities for utilitarian and humanitarian movements.

In this episode, Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute presents the Symmetry Theory of Valence (STV) to Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and his team at The Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.

In this episode, we discuss the nature of mathematical cognition, and how it differs from sacred geometry meditation. We argue that mathematical cognition involves the use of special kind of conscious state, where you partition your mind with a self-other divide, and then manipulate patterns of attention and awareness in order to find transitive equivalences in a network of invariants. This proces...

In this episode, we discuss how philosophy of mind and the science of consciousness has non-trivial and significant implications in the realm of ethics. We cover topics such as mixed valence states, logarithmic scales of pleasure and pain, personal identity, and the symmetry theory of valence. Finally, we brainstorm a bit about what a great reality show it would be for philosophers to take drugs a...

In this episode, we explore how the paradigm of oscillatory complementarity can articulate and clarify a wide range of exotic phenomena. We discuss how concentration meditation can give rise a certain kind of oscillatory annealing, and how insight practice involves de-energizing the non-linearities (gestalts) that make up your world-simulation. We also explore how LSD non-duality can be understood...

In this episode, we explore the idea that our inner world-simulation is constructed with vibes interacting with one another to form gestalts, which in turn form large-scale self-reinforcing attractors aka. "realms". We explain that vibes have precise valence characteristics, and when they are above a certain level of energy they become non-linear and thus they "bounce off each other" to form gesta...

In this episode, we explore the concept of a Full-Spectrum Supersentient Superintelligence - a mind that is capable of exploring, recruiting, and instantiating arbitrary state-spaces of consciousness for computational and aesthetic purposes. We discuss how this radically enriched conception of intelligence is needed in order to understand the true potential of superintelligence.

In this episode, we explore the question of why we are conscious. The short answer is that consciousness allows us to recruit self-organizing principles that can run on a massively parallel fashion in order to find solutions to problems at wave propagation speed. However, this answer raises more questions than it answers. In order to fully understand the role of consciousness, we need to enrich ou...

In this episode, we discuss the 'binding problem' of consciousness, and how it can be broken down into manageable subcomponents. We suggest that any solution to the binding problem must avoid strong emergence, side-step the hard problem of consciousness, circumvent epiphenomenalism, and be compatible with the modern scientific word picture. We then explain that "the binding problem" as stated is i...

In this episode, we explore the idea that DMT experiences can be higher dimensional in a meaningful sense. We discuss how degrees of freedom can become interlocked in such a way that they functionally emulate the behavior of a virtual higher dimension, as exemplified by the "harmonograph". We also discuss how the unique valence properties of the DMT state seem to follow what we could call a "gener...

In this episode, we discuss the new methods that are helping to bring about a new paradigm in consciousness research. We discuss how taking exotic states of consciousness seriously, and engaging in high-quality phenomenology can help us to understand the mind better. We also talk about the importance of having a critical mass of smart and rational psychonauts, and how generalized Wada tests can he...

In this episode, we analyze the perfume category called "Aromatic Fougère" in order to illustrate the aesthetic of "Qualiacore" in its myriad manifestations. We define the Qualiacore Aesthetic as the practice and aspiration to describe experiences in new, meaningful, and non-trivial ways that are illuminating for our understanding of the nature of consciousness. We also discuss the art of perfumer...

In this episode, we explore the importance of cognitive sovereignty - the principle that people should be free to think and feel as they wish, that ideas should be owned by those who come up with them, and that information should be shared responsibly. We discuss how this principle can incentivize smart people to focus their energies on having genuinely new thoughts, and how it can help to create...

In this episode, we explore the challenge of thinking wholesome, genuinely useful, and novel thoughts about how to build paradise. Most of the "visions of paradise" we find in our culture, media, and art are projections of implicit aesthetics used for human coordination, rather than deeply thought-out and high-dimensional perspectives truly meant to elevate our understanding and inspire us to inve...

In this episode, we discuss the Friston's Free Energy Principle (FEP) and how it can be used to explain features of exotic experiences. We talk about how the FEP shows up in the literature today, and how it can be used to explain features of exotic experiences. We also discuss Safron's countermodel of Strengthened BEliefs Under pSychedelics (SEBUS) and the work coming out of Seth's lab.

In this episode, we explore the idea that digital computers cannot be conscious. We discuss the philosophical journey that led us to this conclusion, as well as the classic issues in philosophy of mind that support our position. Finally, we solve the boundary problem with topological segmentation, which allows us to also provide an explanation for what the causal properties of experience are.

In this episode, we explore the problem of other minds and how to solve it using a combination of mindmelding and phenomenal puzzles. We discuss how this approach can be used to increase our certainty of other's consciousness, and how it can address the problem of other minds in a way that even strong skeptics will be satisfied with.

In this episode, we discuss the differences between DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. We look at how they differ in terms of global coherence, valence, and the free energy principle. We also explore 9 other lenses that help us analyze the strange and unique effects of these substances.

In this episode, we take the simulation pill and explore what it would mean for our reality. Once you take the pill, there is no going back, so be sure you're ready for the ride!

In this episode, we explore the idea that you don't need to choose between truth and happiness. High hedonic tone is not incompatible with one's representational accuracy of causal structures. The world, and the existence of experiential heaven and hell, can be understood without curling into a ball and crying your way to sleep. More so, effective and persistent action towards the good requires th...